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Tracking Global Wokeism
In this volume, nineteen authors ask: does wokeness exist in the non-Western world? And if yes, is it imported from America or can also it have its own vernacular roots? This book shifts the debate on wokeness to a global level.
Three Times Emptiness: Śūnyatā, Kenosis, Fanā’
This book offers a triangular comparative analysis by evaluating three different religious approaches to emptiness. It reveals what emptiness or nothingness mean in different cultural and religious contexts. Further, it assesses each tradition’s emptiness concerning the emptiness of the believer, the emptiness of the world, and perhaps even the (temporary or permanent) emptiness of God. Chapters include perspectives on different religions and though being manifest in different ways within their respective traditions, the Hindi and Buddhist concept of śūnyatā, the Christian concept of divine kenosis, and the Ṣūfī concept of fanā’ share a common denominator: all three signify “emptiness”. Covered are both sprititual and “mundane” functions of this emptiness that the three religions address. This monograph appeals to students and researchers and reveals that the idea of an “empty” reality that is purified of superfluous fullness are philosophical concepts relevant for all domains of life.
Transcultural Architecture
Critical Regionalism is a notion which gained popularity in architectural debate as a synthesis of universal, 'modern' elements and individualistic elements derived from local cultures. This book shifts the focus from Critical Regionalism towards a broader concept of 'Transcultural Architecture' and defines Critical Regionalism as a subgroup of the latter. One of the benefits that this change of perspective brings about is that a large part of the political agenda of Critical Regionalism, which consists of resisting attitudes forged by typically Western experiences, is 'softened' and negotiated according to premises provided by local circumstances. A further benefit is that several responses...
Daoism, Dandyism, and Political Correctness
How would Zhuangzi, a Chinese philosopher who lived in the fourth century BCE, have reacted to the recent linguistic reforms commonly referred to as "political correctness"? Zhuangzi was a language skeptic, which means that he did not believe that language could convey the true meanings of the world. Might Zhuangzi have argued that political correctness creates but a dream world made of rules, policies, and words—no more real than when he "dreamt he was a butterfly"? Written in a provocative tone, this book looks at political correctness through the lens of ancient Chinese philosophy, as well as through Brummell's and Wilde's aesthetic philosophy of dandyism. Several scholars have establis...
Parasite: A Philosophical Exploration
Parasite is a philosophically interesting film because it presents the ethico-biological problem of parasitism in a metaphorical and artistic fashion. Michel Serres, in his book called The Parasite, holds that parasites are not in fact useless, but that they establish communications between different spheres and are thus able to transform large-scale organisms. Parasites import coincidences, activate defence systems, and establish new links with the host. In this book, philosophers explore the film from various angles: using the ancient satirist Lucian’s De Parasito, Nietzsche’s concept of “the vengeance of the weak,” Dostoyevsky’s “underground,” Marxism, and many more.
The Crisis of the Human Sciences
Centralization and over-professionalization can lead to the disappearance of a critical environment capable of linking the human sciences to the “real world.” The authors of this volume suggest that the humanities need to operate in a concrete cultural environment able to influence procedures on a hic et nunc basis, and that they should not entirely depend on normative criteria whose function is often to hide ignorance behind a pretentious veil of value-neutral objectivity. In sociology, the growth of scientism has fragmented ethical categories and distorted discourse between our inner and outer selves, while philosophy is suffering from an empty professionalism current in many philosoph...
Micro and Macro Philosophy: Organicism in Biology, Philosophy, and Politics
What role can philosophy play in a world dominated by neoliberalism and globalization? Must it join universalist ideologies as it did in past centuries? Or might it turn to ethnophilosophy and postmodern fragmentation? Micro and Macro Philosophy argues that universalist cosmopolitanism and egocentric culturalism are not the only alternatives. Western philosophy has created a false dichotomy. A better solution can be found in an organic philosophy that functions through micro-macro interactions. According to biologists, the twentieth century was the century of the gene, while the twenty-first century is destined to be the century of the organic. Micro and Macro Philosophy attempts to establish such a view in philosophy: by highlighting micro-macro patterns found in history, it seeks to design new ways of "organic thinking" in the human sciences.
Aesthetics and Politics of Space in Russia and Japan
Aesthetics and Politics of Space in Russia and Japan: A Comparative Philosophical Study examines the parallels between Russian and Japanese philosophies and religions by revealing a common concept of space in Russian and Japanese aesthetics and political theories. Thorsten Botz-Bornstein shows points of convergence between the two traditions regarding the treatment of space within the realm of identity (both individual and communal), and in formulations of the relationship between regionalism, localism and globalism.
Organic Cinema
The “organic” is by now a venerable concept within aesthetics, architecture, and art history, but what might such a term mean within the spatialities and temporalities of film? By way of an answer, this concise and innovative study locates organicity in the work of Béla Tarr, the renowned Hungarian filmmaker and pioneer of the “slow cinema” movement. Through a wholly original analysis of the long take and other signature features of Tarr’s work, author Thorsten Botz-Bornstein establishes compelling links between the seemingly remote spheres of film and architecture, revealing shared organic principles that emphasize the transcendence of boundaries.
Jørn Utzon and Transcultural Essentialism
This book introduces and defines the burgeoning concepts of transculturalism and essentialism and how they relate to one another, as articulated with reference to the work of Jørn Utzon. It introduces critical contemporary perspectives of the design thinking and career of this renowned Danish architect, internationally recognised for his competition-winning, iconic design for the Sydney Opera House – an outstanding exemplar of transcultural essentialism in architecture. Transcultural essentialism is analysed through the lens of critical regionalism and architectural phenomenology, with emphasis on the sense of place and tectonics in Utzon’s architectural works. It provides a new underst...
